Multiple rate electricity meters



June 2, 1959 BO LMANQ 2,889,111

MULTIPLE RATE ELECTRICITY METERS Filed June 8, 1953 4 :7 4 9 0 I9 295%,. w, m, m,

' E] 32 W W a2 J j 4 L/ United States Patent "cc MULTIPLE RATEELECTRICITY METERS Karl Bollmann, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor toLandis & Gyr A.G., Zng, Switzerland, a body corporate Application June8, 1953, Serial No. 360,307 Claims priority, application SwitzerlandJune 11, 1952 1 Claim. (Cl. 235-92) The present invention relates tomultiple rate meters especially electricity meters.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel andimproved multiple rate electricity meter which is unusually compact andrequires an extremely low torque for its operation. A further object isthe provision of a multiple rate meter in which friction has beenreduced so as to insure greater accuracy in the result than hasheretofore been usual.

In the design of electric meters, the designer has to deal with theregisters to be driven through driving gears, and which, due to the lowtorque available must be operated with as little power as possible toprevent errors in the final result. The dimensions of the register playsan important part as there is little room for it in electric meters,especially in multiple tarifi registers.

The present invention aims at removing these impediments and concerns amultiple tarifi registering mechanism for electric meters in which allits vertically mounted shafts and those of the figure carriers arearranged in one plane. In this arrangement, swinging shafts serving forthe alternating coupling of the register units with the metering system,may be advantageously located in the line of the transmission from thedriving gear to the register mechanism behind a single variabletransmission serving to provide the desired ratio between the drivinggear of the register and the metering mechanism.

The drawing shows an illustrative and the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a triple tariif registering mechanismwith certain parts in section, and others broken away;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic development related to it; and

Figure 3 is a detail represented diagrammatically.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, the dial 1 of the registeringmechanism, is provided with cut-outs 2 through which the figuresrepresenting the respective value on the register units are visible. Thefigures are arranged on the drums 3 which are seated on vertical shafts4 arranged in one plane. The drive shaft 5 of the metering element (notshown in the drawing) carries the driving gear of the metering element.In the train of the transmission of the motion from the driving gear ofthe metering element to its figure drums there are shafts connected inthe proper ratio to form the transmission of the driving gear of themeter element and the register mechanism, the alternating; coupling ofthe register units and the reduction gear of the figure drums 3, all ofwhich shafts are arranged vertically. Shafts 6, 7 for the alternatecoupling of the register units can be swung a little out of theirvertical position for purposes of coupling and uncoupling. Fundamentallyall the shafts of the multiple tariff register mechanism are mounted inholes passing through plates and standing on a transom 8 of the lowerplate.

Between the drive shaft 5 of the meter and the swinging shaft 6 of thefirst register change-over point two shafts 11, 12 are arranged carryingthe variable transmission in the form of two driving gears 9, 10, theshaft 11 being directly connected by means of a gear 13, 14 to the driveshaft 5 of the meter, the gears 9, 10 being fixed interchangeablyoutside the upper mounting of the shaft 11, 12 to the latter, and theshaft 12 carrying gears 15, 16 which can engage with, and be disengagedfrom, the gears 17, 18 of the swinging shaft 6.

The upper swinging shaft 6 is connected by means of a continuouslyengaged gear 19 to an intermediate shaft 20 which retransmits thetransmitted motion to the digit drum 3 of the uppermost of the threeregister units.

The lower swinging shaft 6 is connected by means of a constantly engagedgear 21 to an intermediate shaft 22, which carries the gears 23, 24 ofwhich. the former, 23, can engage wth, and be disengaged from, a gear 25on the swinging shaft 7 of a second change-over point of the registermechanism, and the second, 24, can engage with, and be disengaged from,a gear 26 on the other swinging shaft 7 of this change-over point of theregister mechanism. The upper swinging shaft 7 is constantly connectedby means of the gear 27' an intermediate shaft 127 and gears 27 to thedigit drum 3 of the middle register unit, and the lower swinging shaft7, by means of the gear 28' an intermediate shaft 128 and gears 28, isconstantly connected to the digit drum 3 of the lowest register unit.

The plates are arranged in such a manner that the shafts 11, 12, theshaft 6, the shaft 20' as well as the shafts 4 of the uppermost registerunit are mounted above in an outer upper plate 29, and the shafts 11, 12and the lower shaft 6 are mounted below in an intermediate plate 30, andthe shaft 22, the upper shaft 7, the intermediate shafts and the shafts4 of the middle register unit are mounted above in an intermediate plate31, and the shaft 22, the lower swinging shaft 7, the intermediateshafts as well as the shafts 4 of the lowest register unit are mountedbelow in a lower plate 32. The shaft 20 as well as the shafts 4 of theuppermost register unit are mounted in an intermediate plate 33. Theintermediate parts of the middle register unit and the latter 'shafts 4are mounted below in an intermediate plate 34, and the intermediateparts as well as the shafts 4 of the lowest register unit are mountedabove in an intermediate plate 35. All of the plates are connected bymeans of stay bolts 36 to form a solid mounting frame, at the front ofwhich the dial is fixed which in its turn is fixed in the usual way inthe meter.

The swinging shafts 6 and 7 of the two change-over points of theregistering mechanism are: each mounted at the ends opposite to eachother in a swivel arm 37 which can be made to turn about a fixed pointin the mounted frame and which bears, under the pull of a spring 38,against a pin 39 of an arm 40 and 41 of a three-armed lever 40, '41, 42.The arm 42 of this threearmed lever is acted on oppositely by a spring43 and a relay magnet 44, and a stop 45 serves to fix the position of alever 40, 41, 42 when the relay is de energizcd.

Patented June 2, 195.9.

When the magnet 44 is tie-energized, the spring 43 maintains the upperswinging shaft 6 or 7 in engagement with the gears 15, 17 or 23, 25,while the swivel arm 37 of the lower swinging shaft 6 or 7 keeps thelatter disengaged from the gears 16, 13 or 24, 26. When the relay isenergized, its magnet 44 attracts the arm 42 and the coupling isreversed by the upper swinging shaft 6 (7) being disengaged from thegears 15, 17 (23, 25), and the lower swinging shaft 6 (7) engaging withthe gears 16, 18 (2'4, 26).

Briefly, the action of the multiple tariff meter described withreference to Figure 2, in which two coupling gear are indicated in theneutral position, is such that if for example the relay of the firstchange-over point of the counting mechanism is de-energized theuppermost register unit is engaged with the drive shaft of the meter,i.e., the gears 15, 17 are engaged in each other, whereas the gears 16,18 are disengaged. Thus the middle and lowest register units are cutout.

When the relay of the first change-over point is energized and the relayof the second change-over point deenergized the first relay engages thegears 16, 18 with each other and simultaneously disengages the gears 15,17, however the second relay leaves the gears 23, in the'engagedposition whereas the gears 24, 26 are disengaged. Thus the drive shaft13 of the counter is engaged by means of the shaft 22 and the gears 27with the middle register unit while the other register units are idle.

If the first relay remains energized and the second relay is alsoenergized, the shaft 22 remains engaged with the drive shaft 5 of themeter, but is operatively connected by the gears 24, 26 with the lowestregister unit, and simultaneously the middle register unit isdisconnected. The transmission of motion is therefore now effected bythe drive shaft 5 of the meter to the lowest register unit.

The arrangement of the relays with reference to the connection ofregister units might also be such that when the lower register mechanismis coupled no relay is energized, when the relay of the secondchange-over point is energized the middle register is coupled, and whenthe relay of the first change-over point is energized the uppermostregister mechanism is coupled. This avoids the simultaneous excitationof both relays in the course of the reversal of the register mechanism.

The construction of a multiple tariff counter mechanism having onlyvertical shafts and figure carriers in one plane, oflfers the advantagethat the register mechanism can be restricted to a small volume and cansimultaneously be kept small in itself and with reduced friction, thatcoupling faults are reduced as much as possible and the figures can belarge in spite of the reduced dimension. Moreover, with only a singlevariable transmission serving for the adaptation of the transmissionratiobetween the drive gear of the meter and the mechanism a readyinterchangeability of the transmission is attained.

The vertical arrangement offers in itself a reduction of 4 friction inthe bearings. It makes moreover possible a further reduction through thediminished dimension of thickness and length, to which also contributesthe fact that the figure carriers are made in the form of drums which,low in weight, render possible the use of figures of large dimensions.The reduction of coupling faults results from the change-overarrangement close behind the interchangeable transmission, and thischange-over arrangement may, where the present invention is used in adouble tariff mechanism, which has only two register units, be situateddirectly behind the variable transmission. The use of a single variabletransmission directly behind the drive shaft of the meter diminishes thenumber of shafts in the register mechanism and simplifies andfacilitates the change of transmission through the method of mounting ofthe transmission gears.

As indicated before, the form of embodiment of the meter according tothe invention which has been described only by way of example and thenumber of register units may be varied.

What is claimed is:

A multiple rate meter having a registering mechanism including aplurality of registers with their shafts and figure carrying members,gearing interconnecting all of said shafts, a driving shaft driven by ametering element, and a plurality of shafts between the driving shaftand registers carrying engageable and disengageable gear means wherebyone or another of the registers may be selectively driven from themetering element, all of the shaft members of the register beingsubstantially vertically mounted in a single plane and the drivingshafts and other shafts between the driving shaft and the registershafts being mounted behind said plane, said engageable anddisengageable gear means comprises a three-armed lever control, a pairof swinging shafts at a change-over point intermediate of the drivingshaft and the registering mechanism, two arms of the lever each actingon a swivel lever serving as hearing for a swing shaft and a third armbeing under the counter-rotating influence of a spring and a relaymagnet, so that when the magnet is deenergized the pull of the springengages one swinging shaft and disengages the other swinging shaft, andwhen the magnet is energized the spring is overcome and the reversal ofthe coupling is effected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS409,649 Pforzheimer Aug. 20, 1889 548,419 Barstow Oct. 22, 1895 631,343Thomson Aug. 22, 1899 1,732,689 Marden Oct. 22, 1929 1,805,665 Hough May19, 1931 1,997,743 Pudelko Apr. 16, 1935 2,531,448 Lingenfelder Nov. 28,1950 2,667,735 Solari Feb. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 114,720 SwitzerlandApr. 16, 1926

